|
Nobody these days makes as many consistently great and entertaining music videos these days as the Scissor Sisters. So here is my pick for best music vid of 2007 - “She’s My Man,” a groovy take on the famous Japanese “Matrix ping-pong” video that was all the rage some time back. Dig it.
|
|
Merle Haggard’s “Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down.” And, boy, did it ever. |
|
Hey kids, not to be outdone by Radiohead, MySpace and Pennywise announced today that they’re going to team up and offer the Cali punk outfit’s next record–in its entirety–as a free download for two weeks upon its release next March. It could be a crazy gambit, this giving away music stuff. It also could be a shrewd marketing move by a band that realizes that it makes its money by getting butts in seats (or Converse in the pit, whatever) and their album sales are kinda icing on the cake. More records out there, more fans to like ya. More fans to like ya, more ticket sales/cover charges coming into the group’s till. It’s not like Mariah Carey or (insert chart-topping annoyance here), whose albums have so much marketing overhead–including big-budget videos–that giving away an album would bankrupt the label.  Pennywise’s Jim Lindberg is suddenly the most popular punk online. Either way, keep the group’s MySpace bookmarked and keep tabs on this saga. You never know if some record-industry force will block this, or if the band will get cold feet. Or it turns out the free MP3s are sampled at crackly AM-radio quality. Or if some other legal snafu comes up to make this bold step a non-starter. Three months is a long time for hitches not to develop. But in typical punk style, the band’s not afraid to go toe-to-toe with the old guard, the keepers of the purse strings–and this quote from the above-linked Pollstar piece sums it up perfectly: “We know that this will piss off a lot of people in the music industry,” said Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge. “And what do we say to that? ‘Who cares?’ We’ve been pissing people off for 18 years. Why stop now?” |
|
Just a quick message here from me to everyone else out there to have a great holiday season. Much thanks to you for the readership. JT |
|
Thanks to this damned writer’s strike preventing Darlene Love from making her annual appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” it just doesn’t seem like Christmas. So allow ESDMusic to do its part to help things along… Merry Christmas, everybody! |
|
Let’s keep this one simple, shall we? It’s a holiday, and we work during enough holidays as it is. Merry Christmas, everyone. Here’s to hoping that Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn will grace us with a new record sometime before we die. |
|
Mark Twain reads R. Kelly’s “Real Talk.” I was in stitches. Hopefully you will be too while watching it.
|
|
Cougarman7 is a Jandek fan, but he made this hilarious “how-to” video to demonstrate how easy it is to play the Jandek classic “Point Judith.” Enjoy.
|
|
Since it’s the end of the year that means it’s time to dump out year-end lists! We’re doing that here at Bullz-Eye, but other fine sites are doing it as well. This next list from Cracked may not have just come out, but it’s worthy of your amusement. Therefore, here is Cracked’s list of The 20 Worst Album Titles of All Time. |
|
“It’s Christmas Eve, babe / In the drunk tank.” Find me a better opening to a holiday song than that. I usually use this segment to pimp new stuff, but ’tis the season, etc. (plus the labels don’t release anything of major importance after the middle of November), so I present to you my all time favorite Christmas song. Have we mentioned lately how awesome Kirsty MacColl was, and how much we miss her? We should just rename this site iheartkirstymaccoll.com. ‘Cause we do. Big whole bunches.
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and Videos and External Music and Seen Your Video Comments: 1 Comment |
 Road Warriors 45 San Francisco’s Noise Pop Festival is set for February 26 through March 2, and more artists have been confirmed for the event. New performers just announced are British Sea Power, Panther, Holy Fuck, Jeffery Lewis & The Jitters, Darker My Love, and Minipop. Other acts already confirmed include Magnetic Fields, The Mountain Goats, The Gutter Twins, Cursive, Blitzen, Trapper, Fu Manchu, Kelly Stoltz, and Saviours. For more information, please visit www.noisepop.com London based four-piece rock band Switches are coming to the US for a tour after the New Year with NYC based synth rockers Bravery. Switches will be touring in advance of their album, Lay Down The Law, due out March 18 on Interscope. Here are the confirmed dates: January Hellyeah, one of the most successful new rock bands, have just announced the second leg of their national headlining tour which they are calling Balls, Volume, Strength Tour. Machine Head, Nonpoint and Ankla will be supporting. Hellyeah’s self-titled album entered Billboard’s Top 200 at #9 earlier this year and has sold over 250,000 units. Here are the upcoming tour dates with more to be announced (more…) |
|
After three years on major label Columbia Records, New York City based singer/songwriter Ari Hest is on his own again, and is embracing his independent status. Following an alarming trend of artists who feel the need to emancipate themselves from the major label machine to pursue more control and artistic freedom, Hest is launching a subscription based service on January 7 called “52.” The premise is that the prolific artist will deliver to his fans one new song per week with access to blogs, lyrics, interactive voting polls and more. “After an amicable departure from my record label this summer, I decided it was time to try something a little different,” he said. “It feels great to be an independent artist again, and I’m more inspired than ever to write and record. ” At the end of 2008, Hest will take the most popular songs from “52,” and record a new album with those tracks in 2009. There will be three levels to the subscription service, and fans can find out more by visiting Hest’s website at www.arihest.com Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Music Labels and Indie Labels and Songs Comments: None |
|
Boston’s best-kept musical secret probably will remain such forever. But you, now, are privy to this instrumental band that sounds kinda like Chet Atkins on acid. Or Les Paul on some sort of otherworldly speedball. Or some lounge band that’s played together in so many freaking velvet-lined, cigar-fogged rooms that they can’t help but be tight and perfectly well-practiced. “Rock/Surf/Lounge” is how the Weisstronauts bill themselves, but that’s just a way to pigeonhole them conveniently for the rock press. No, anyone who’s driven down the kitschy, cheezy world of U.S. Route 1–from the gargantuan gas tanks to the Prince Leaning Tower of Pizza to a Chinese restaurant bigger than two city blocks–knows that the Weisstronauts (who quote Route 1 in their album art) come from another place.  That damn monkey always shows up on their album covers in front of some Route 1 establishment of questionable repute. In that place there’s fuzzy distortion, weird sound effects, and damn fine pickin’ on the electric guitar. Their sound is sparse and melodic, catchy, and crankable to earth-shattering volumes on your hi-fi rig because it’s clean and beautifully produced. I love these guys and I wish they’d crank out some more music already, because nearly two years without a new record is two years too many. At least they live large on MySpace, where new fans can listen to sample cuts and track down their obscure records on an obscure local label. Long live the Weisstronauts! |
|
When it rains it pours, and this is no truer than in the Spears family. Suffice to say that Jamie Lynn Spears’ anoouncement that she is pregnant (not to mention only 16), adds a few drops more to the total. The apocalypse isn’t going to be brought on by the Four Horsemen; no, it’s going to be rung in by the Spears family, with lots of cigs, snacks, and bad decisions. |
|
Yes, it’s a sad day for all parents who are readers out there, as Lynne Spears’ parenting tome has been suspended indefinitely. We could make all the conjecture we like, but let’s face it, Lynne Spears has failed as a parent and no one wants to take her adivce, let alone pay for it. |
| previous posts » |